On 5 September, the President of EFA and Food Allergy Italia Marcia Podestà, was a speaker at a scientific workshop, part of the GA2LEN Anacare Anaphylaxis and Food Allergy Forum 2024, which took place in Padua, Italy. The two-and-half-days conference brought together key scientists, academics, patient representatives, opinion leaders and industry in the area of food allergy and anaphylaxis diagnosis and management to explore cutting-edge topics, exchange insights, and foster meaningful connections.
It was a dynamic meeting where innovation, collaboration, and inspiration converged. Many thrilling workshops offered attendants practical input on food allergy and anaphylaxis diagnosis and management.
With the title ‘Thresholds in allergen mandatory labelling: How much is too much?’ the workshop examined the issue of allergen thresholds in prepacked food, especially from the perspective of Precautionary Allergen Labelling (PAL).
Ms Podestà began her intervention with an overview of existing frameworks for allergen thresholds in Europe, including in Switzerland and the Netherlands, both of which have enshrined PAL into their legislation. Other countries such as Sweden and the UK, have taken clear positions through guidances and scientific assessments.
Speaking about EFA’s work with Codex on this issue, the EFA President outlined EFA’s urgent call to make PAL mandatory for all prepacked products in Europe, and for the establishment of an ‘Allergen Statement’ bringing all allergen-related information in one place.
Moreover, Ms Podestà referred to EFA’s support for reference doses based on eliciting dose 05 (ED05) of allergen based on FAO/WHO experts’ recommendations. The EFA food allergy patient community agrees that only through this approach PAL can become more trustworthy and meaningful. On the contrary, ED01-based thresholds would certainly lead to a further proliferation of PAL with no considerable health benefit.
Equally, Ms Podestà demonstrated that the risk of allergic reactions depends greatly on the patient’s individual eliciting dose. For that reason is crucial to better understand individual patient reactivity to avoid unnecessary dietary restrictions. Therefore, a more personalised approach would lead to significant health gains and even save lives.
Moving forward, she expressed the need of EFA food allergy patient community for new diagnostic tools, better dietary information, and improved PAL labelling. By remaining active at both the EU and the international level, EFA is always ready to work with the medical community in a series of areas: the advancement of precision medicine, education on the use and interpretation of PAL and science-based communication on the perception of risk by all, but focusing especially on the most vulnerable.
On 7 September, Ms Podestà chaired the session Impact of food allergy and anaphylaxis on patients and their families, in which experts, including patient representatives, provided an overview of the new Codex regulations and its impact, the Australian National Allergy and anaphylaxis Program and a global survey of travelling with nut allergy.
You can find Marcia’s presentation here.